Add S1229-e, amd SS125 & 200, V & T L; add S74-a, St Fin L; add S389, Pub Auth L; add S23, Transp L
Provides that motor vehicles, with certain exceptions, shall not be operated with an accumulation of snow or ice on the surface thereof; establishes fines for violation of these provisions; establishes a fund for the state's portion of such fines, the "snow and ice removal fund" with 10% of the funds going to an annual DMV report on the fund, 25% going to each the DOT and the Thruway authority for establishing snow and ice removal sites on their roads, 30% for a DOT grant program and 10% for a public awareness campaign.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
395--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 9, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sens. DILAN, ADDABBO, AVELLA -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Trans-
portation -- recommitted to the Committee on Transportation in accord-
ance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
surfaces of certain motor vehicles to be cleared of accumulated snow,
sleet, or hail; to amend the state finance law, the public authorities
law and the transportation law, in relation to the snow and ice
removal fund; and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon
expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new
2 section 1229-e to read as follows:
3 § 1229-e. Clearance of snow, sleet, and hail. 1. No person shall oper-
4 ate a motor vehicle on a public street or highway while there is an
5 accumulation of snow, sleet, or hail on the roof or cargo bed surfaces
6 thereof, whether of any occupant compartment, trailer, or other cargo
7 compartment in excess of three inches.
8 2. The removal of accumulated snow, sleet, or hail required by subdi-
9 vision one of this section shall not apply during the falling of snow,
10 sleet, or hail or within three hours after the cessation of the falling
11 thereof.
12 3. (a) The operator of a non-commercial vehicle in violation of the
13 provisions of this section, excluding a disabled operator, shall be
14 subject to a fine of not less than one hundred fifty dollars nor more
15 than eight hundred fifty dollars.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00411-02-4
S. 395--A 2
1 (b) The operator, owner, lessee, bailee or any one of the aforesaid if
2 a commercial motor vehicle shall be subject to a fine of not less than
3 four hundred fifty dollars nor more than twelve hundred fifty dollars.
4 (c) All fines credited to the state pursuant to this section shall be
5 deposited to the snow and ice removal fund established pursuant to
6 section seventy-four-a of the state finance law.
7 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any automobile
8 transporter, motorcycle, or authorized emergency vehicle.
9 § 2. Section 125 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter
10 365 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
11 § 125. Motor vehicles. Every vehicle operated or driven upon a public
12 highway which is propelled by any power other than muscular power,
13 except (a) electrically-driven mobility assistance devices operated or
14 driven by a person with a disability, (a-1) electric personal assistive
15 mobility devices operated outside a city with a population of one
16 million or more, (b) vehicles which run only upon rails or tracks, (c)
17 snowmobiles as defined in article forty-seven of this chapter, and (d)
18 all terrain vehicles as defined in article forty-eight-B of this chap-
19 ter. For the purposes of title four of this chapter, the term motor
20 vehicle shall exclude fire and police vehicles other than ambulances.
21 For the purposes of titles four and five, and section twelve hundred
22 twenty-nine-e of this chapter the term motor vehicles shall exclude farm
23 type tractors and all terrain type vehicles used exclusively for agri-
24 cultural purposes, or for snow plowing, other than for hire, farm equip-
25 ment, including self-propelled machines used exclusively in growing,
26 harvesting or handling farm produce, and self-propelled caterpillar or
27 crawler-type equipment while being operated on the contract site.
28 § 3. Section 200 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a
29 new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
30 3. The commissioner shall submit a report to the governor, temporary
31 president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on an annual
32 basis for the ten years commencing on August thirty-first, two thousand
33 fifteen concerning the implementation of section twelve hundred twenty-
34 nine-e of this chapter and section seventy-four-a of the state finance
35 law. Such report shall include information on:
36 (a) the amount of funds made available to the commissioner and the New
37 York state thruway authority and the use of such funds;
38 (b) how many summonses were issued pursuant to section twelve hundred
39 twenty-nine-e of this chapter;
40 (c) the operation of the grant program established pursuant to para-
41 graph (b) of subdivision two of section twenty-three of the transporta-
42 tion law;
43 (d) the public awareness program conducted pursuant to paragraph (c)
44 of subdivision two of section twenty-three of the transportation law;
45 (e) the severity and frequency of traffic incidents involving snow or
46 ice not properly removed from vehicles before and after the implementa-
47 tion of section twelve hundred twenty-nine-e of this chapter; and
48 (f) the operation of such snow and ice removal sites established by
49 the New York state department of transportation pursuant to section
50 three hundred eighty-nine of the public authorities law and the New York
51 state thruway authority pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision two of
52 section twenty-three of the transportation law.
53 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 74-a to
54 read as follows:
55 § 74-a. Snow and ice removal fund. 1. There is hereby established in
56 the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of taxa-
S. 395--A 3
1 tion and finance a special fund to be known as the "snow and ice removal
2 fund".
3 2. The snow and ice removal fund shall consist of all fines credited
4 to the state for a violation of section twelve hundred twenty-nine-e of
5 the vehicle and traffic law, and all other moneys credited or trans-
6 ferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law.
7 3. Moneys in the snow and ice removal fund may be invested by the
8 comptroller pursuant to the provisions of section ninety-eight-a of this
9 article and any income received by the comptroller from such investments
10 shall be added to and become part of, and shall be used for the purposes
11 of such fund. All deposits of such money shall, if required by the comp-
12 troller, be secured by obligations of the United States or of the state
13 of market value equal at all times to the amount of the deposit and all
14 banks and trust companies are authorized to give such securities for
15 such deposits.
16 4. Moneys of the fund, following appropriation by the legislature,
17 shall be allocated upon a certificate of approval of availability by the
18 director of the budget solely for the purposes set forth in this
19 section.
20 5. Moneys in the fund shall be allocated in the following manner:
21 (a) Ten percent of the moneys shall be transferred to the department
22 of motor vehicles for the collection and reporting of data on the imple-
23 mentation of section twelve hundred twenty-nine-e of the vehicle and
24 traffic law.
25 (b) Twenty-five percent of the moneys shall be transferred to the
26 department of transportation for the purposes of paragraph (a) of subdi-
27 vision two of section twenty-three of the transportation law.
28 (c) Twenty-five percent of the moneys shall be transferred to the New
29 York state thruway authority for purposes of section three hundred
30 eighty-nine of the public authorities law.
31 (d) Thirty percent of the moneys shall be transferred to the depart-
32 ment of transportation for the grant program established pursuant to
33 paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section twenty-three of the trans-
34 portation law.
35 (e) Ten percent of the moneys shall be transferred to the department
36 of transportation for the public awareness program conducted pursuant to
37 paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section twenty-three of the trans-
38 portation law.
39 § 5. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 389
40 to read as follows:
41 § 389. Snow and ice removal sites. 1. For the purposes of this
42 section, the term "common carrier" shall mean any person that transports
43 passengers by motor vehicle for compensation by providing service for
44 the general public on an individual fare basis over regular or irregular
45 routes or any person that transports property by motor vehicle for
46 compensation for the general public. It shall include a bus line which
47 is a motor vehicle that is usually characterized by the use of vehicles
48 having a seating capacity of greater than twenty passengers; by multiple
49 pickup and discharge points along designated routes; and by no prear-
50 rangements or reservations by passengers.
51 2. Using the moneys allocated from the snow and ice removal fund
52 established pursuant to section seventy-four-a of the state finance law,
53 the authority shall establish snow and ice removal sites for common
54 carriers on the thruway. The authority shall use the moneys allocated
55 from paragraph (c) of subdivision five of section seventy-four-a of the
56 state finance law for the purchase, installation and operation of snow
S. 395--A 4
1 and ice removal equipment at such rest areas and service areas under its
2 jurisdiction as the authority deems appropriate.
3 § 6. The transportation law is amended by adding a new section 23 to
4 read as follows:
5 § 23. Snow and ice removal. 1. For the purposes of this section, the
6 term "common carrier" shall mean any person that transports passengers
7 by motor vehicle for compensation by providing service for the general
8 public on an individual fare basis over regular or irregular routes or
9 any person that transports property by motor vehicle for compensation
10 for the general public. It shall include a bus line which is a motor
11 vehicle that is usually characterized by the use of vehicles having a
12 seating capacity of greater than twenty passengers; by multiple pickup
13 and discharge points along designated routes; and by no prearrangements
14 or reservations by passengers.
15 2. Using the moneys allocated from the snow and ice removal fund
16 established pursuant to section seventy-four-a of the state finance law,
17 the department shall:
18 (a) establish snow and ice removal sites for common carriers on such
19 interstate and state highways that are under the jurisdiction of the
20 department. The department shall use the moneys allocated from paragraph
21 (b) of subdivision five of section seventy-four-a of the state finance
22 law for the purchase, installation and operation of snow and ice removal
23 equipment at such rest areas and service areas under its jurisdiction as
24 the commissioner deems appropriate.
25 (b) establish and administer a snow and ice removal grant program. The
26 department shall use the moneys allocated from paragraph (b) of subdivi-
27 sion five of section seventy-four-a of the state finance law for the
28 purpose of providing common carriers with matching funds to purchase
29 snow and ice removal equipment; provided, however, that
30 (i) no grant to any common carrier shall exceed ten percent of the
31 total allocations for such grant program;
32 (ii) each applicant shall be eligible to receive only one such grant
33 in any twenty-four month period;
34 (iii) no part of any such grant shall be used for salaries or any
35 other services other than for the purchase and installation of snow and
36 ice removal equipment; and
37 (iv) the common carrier has committed sufficient funds to fulfill the
38 match requirements of this grant.
39 (c) improve public awareness of the hazards of driving with accumu-
40 lations of snow and ice on the roof or cargo bed surfaces of motor vehi-
41 cles and the prohibition thereof. The department shall use the moneys
42 allocated from paragraph (e) of subdivision five of section seventy-
43 four-a of the state finance law for the purpose of such public awareness
44 campaign through educational and informational materials in print,
45 audio, visual, electronic or other media including, but not limited to
46 public service announcements and advertisements.
47 § 7. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
48 ing the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however,
49 that the amendments to section 200 of the vehicle and traffic law made
50 by section three of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed Septem-
51 ber 1, 2024.
